New Blocks

I was going to try a Lonestar. I was going to try a landscape quilt.



But, I was browsing through this thrift store magazine (notice the 25 cent price in the corner) and saw this butterfly block and just had to try it. I love blocks that use a lot of pieces of different colors and that are complicated to put together. Don't ask me why. I want to try all sorts of different combinations now that I understand how it works. I may even sacrifice a few of my greens. I'm not sure how big this will get but once I start piecing things like these butterflies I keep waning to try just one more in yellows or oranges or pinks. I'm sure it won't be as large as queen sized though because I don't enjoy quilting anything that large.

Tech Troubles

Thanks for all the great comments on my Double Wedding Ring. It was very satisfying to finally finish it.
Meanwhile we have been having all sorts of internet problems. Our connection was constantly off and on and off but more often off. We have a huge aerial on top of our house that points to a tower about ten miles away. We had to get it made taller because the trees were interefring with the signal. Since then it has been constant problems. We called tech support and for three days we have been on the phone while they walked us through the same thing over and over. We asked if it could be some short in a wire outside and they said no chance. When I was talking to the tech guy he insisted it was our home network once he heard that there were two computers connected together.They don't hold themselves resonsible for networking and he insisted that my son had changed something when he networked the computers. Never mind that they worked at first. Then my husband got on the phone with them yesterday. They listen more to a man for some reason. Finally, they said they'd send someone out. Sure enough it was a bad connection outside. One of the wires was too short and they had to splice it and that was where the problem was. The bottom line is that it is now working. Knock on wood that it keeps going.
Now I have to catch up on blog reading and emails. More quilting pictures later.

Double Wedding Ring Done!

I have done it! I finally finished stitching down the binding on the antique Double Wedding Ring quilt that I started way back when. I will have to check back in my blog to know when. I haven't done the label yet but I think I might buy some computer fabric and print out a label so I can put in all the information about who pieced it ( my mother in the 1930's for those who weren't reading my blog when I started it) and who quilted it.
Thanks for all the nice comments on the box that I made. It was actually easier than it looks and the next one, if there is a next one, will be easier. I just got a call from the library that the instruction book I used is overdue. We have a great library. They don't charge for overdue books. They just give you a call and remind you. When they call you can renew it over the phone if you want to. Unfortunately I was away when the call came so I will probably go in tomorrow and either return it or renew it.
I went to a one-woman quilt show in a gallery in Winnipeg today and it was simply amazing. She had done 6 or 7 large quilts depicting the beginning of the world according to the Bible. It was all needle turn applique using her own drawings as patterns. She did both hand and machine quilting. The last one was Old MacDonald's farm with all the animals. Her colours were fabulous. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera along. The quilter's name is Judith Panson. I'm not sure if she has a web page or not. It was worth the trip just to see her work. Now I am inspired to try a landscape quilt but with fusing. Stay tuned.

Sewing Box

Our internet connection has been playing up again and is off more than it is on. Hence the lack of posting.


I found this book in the library and just had to try some of the boxes.



I am not very good with the glue gun and didn't have the perle cotton to go over the plastic mesh so the lid is a bit of a disaster.



Tomorrow I will try to get the cotton and maybe make a new lid. I also need to make the thimble box for the middle. There are a couple of other boxes in the book that I want to try but my new quilt is calling me too.

Marking Quilts

Yesterday I marked the border of my nine patch for quilting. That is the part of quilting that I enjoy the least. I bought a special brush and chalk for marking which works great and doesn't rub off easily. The only problem is that the chalk is white. What to do on white fabric? I finally used blue chalk from a carpenter's chalk plumb line and a piece of rolled felt to tap it on with. I tried it on a scrap and it seemed to wash out all right. I just hope it stays on until I'm done quilting it. I don't want to go over it all with pencil. When the chalk is used up in the brush I may buy another one for white and put some of the blue chalk in this one.



I used a pattern from this book by Keryn Emerson. She has a blog called Quilting Twin. Her patterns are fantastic. I have used several of them. I traced the pattern onto Golden Threads paper and to punch the little holes for the chalk to go through, I used a marking wheel with the paper on a couple of layers of felt. It worked well on the straight lines, not so well on tight curves. I wish I could find a fun way of marking. I don't think one exists. Free motion on a long arm might do it. Lol.



Meanwhile I am debating what to do with my stack of new fabric. I am leaning toward a Lone Star. I have always wanted to do one but never had the right fabric on hand. I think it might look good with my darks and purples and maybe some of the orange. I could always buy more fabric if I don't have enough that look good together. Then the greens would have to wait their turn.

I have also started sewing the binding on the antique Double Wedding Ring that I hand quilted. Binding on curves is a whole new thing. I had been waiting around looking fro the right blue but finally I just dyed some and although it doesn't match perfectly, it goes with the old fashioned "use whatever you have on hand" method that our foremothers had to use. I'll post a picture when it's done. I am about a quarter of the way around so far.

Nine Patch One More Time

Here is a picture of the nine patch with the white borders. I have been looking at different border quilting designs. I haven't marked it yet though. The rest of it will probably be quilted along the sewing lines and maybe on some of the diagonals. I also have to find some fabric for the back. I might have enough fabric to make large squares of some of the pieces I used for the nine patches.

Meanwhile, today I washed and ironed all my new fabrics that I bought yesterday and they are sittting there tantalizing me. I have to look through some of my books and decide what to do with them. Maybe it's time to start my green quilt, although those pinks and purples are calling me too.

Half Price Fabrics

One of the fabric stores in our area is closing down at the end of December. They don't have a huge selection of quilting fabrics but what they do have is on sale at half price. I bought some today and I'm sure I'll be back before it closes. I am sad to see it go. I bought a lot of fabric there and more than one sewing machine.
After the fabric store I went to the thrift store and got three more pieces of fabric. The first one (orange flowered one) and the last two green ones are from the thrift shop. I have collected a lot of greens in the last few months so, since I have nearly finished my nine patch, I need to start thinking of what to do with them. I put a wide white border on the nine patch and am ready to start marking it. I'm not sure what I will put on the back. Maybe back to the fabric sale for that!

Back to Reality

I am finally back to quilting in earnest. I have done all the nine patches and sashing unless I decide to make it bigger. I must confess to getting a bit bored with all those little nine patches so I may just put a fairly large border on and call it a day. I suppose it will depend on how much it shrinks when I sew it together. I am always amazed how much smaller a quilt looks when it is sewn together. Those little quarter inch seams really add up. I'm not sure if I should spend some time arranging or just let it be. So far all I have done is to try to avoid having two colors the same touching.

Pillow Talk

About fifteen years ago I read an article that said feathers are nearly indestructible, can be washed and dried and will last for years. Pretty well the only thing that can damage them is dampness. A few days later I was at an auction and bought a dirty, horrible looking bag of feathers for a dollar. I thought it was a great chance to see if they are indeed washable. Well, I washed them, dried them in the sun (although the dryer on low heat will work too) and was amazed to see that they were indeed clean and looking like new. I bought a piece of ticking and made my perfect pillow. All those feathers were softest down and since I like a small, soft pillow I now had exactly what I like.

Fast forward to our latest trip. I always travel with my precious pillow and am always afraid of leaving it in a hotel. I thought that I should put a bright pillow case on it so that it would be more obvious when we were packing. In the hustle and bustle of leaving I forgot. We stayed one night in Santa Fe at a Days Inn. The next evening as we were leaving Denver, I had a horrible sinking feeling that I had forgotten my pillow in Santa Fe. Sure enough, it was not in the car. We stopped at a Days Inn again that night, and I asked what their policy is on forgotten items. Apparently they keep everything they find for six months. The manager dialed the Santa Fe Days Inn and I talked to someone there. They didn't seem very interested in my pillow and it sounded doubtful that I would ever see it again. The perfect ending to this story would be that it suddenly arrived in the mail. That hasn't happened and I doubt that it will.

So I went to the thrift shop, bought a ratty looking old down coat, and to the fabric store for ticking. Today I ripped each section of the coat and put the feathers (most of them anyway, not counting the ones in my hair, nose and clothes) into a new pillow. Luckily, it was warm and calm enough to do it outside on the deck. Now I have a new pillow that is almost as good as the old one. In the unlikely event that I do make it back to Santa Fe within six months you can be sure that the first thing I will do is go looking for my old faithful pillow.

We're Back!

We had a wonderful, if short, trip and saw a lot of new places that had always been on our to-do list. I will list them to save reading time. Lol. I have been trying to catch up on blog reading and know how long it can take!
1. Yellowstone park and Old Faithful. I especially liked the bubbling mud holes that you never read about but are just as amazing as Old Faithful. It was freezing cold though and if the mud hadn't been actually boiling I would have been tempted to dip my hands in.
2. Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was a town full of boutiques and galleries but we were only able to window shop as it was a Sunday evening when we got there. Still, it was very interesting with lots of amazing wildlife art.
3. Utah Salt Flats. So very different from here and a restful nice straight flat road after the mountains of Yellowstone.
3. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. There is an art gallery every three steps which is wonderful if you are into art.
4. Las Vegas. Not my scene at all but something you have to see to believe.
5. Hoover Dam. Amazing but I prefer natural wonders.
6. Grand Canyon. You can see hundreds of pictures and movies but nothing compares to the real thing. I would love to hike to the bottom but I think I better start working out right now and maybe plan to do that in about 3 years. It is deep and steep.
7. Santa Fe and Taos. I really want to go back and spend more time in that area. We were already heading home and had spent too much time in other places so had to shorten our stay there. Next time we would go right there and spend at least a week.
8. Denver. Unfortunately we had to more or less pass through without stopping but would also like to spend more time there. We did have the best Yakisoba outside Japan there so the food stop was well worth it.

Were we sorry to get home to the snow after sunny Calfornia? Not really. Snowy weather is the best for quilting! And it is so clean and fresh and bright outside. So, I will get of the computer and take poor neglected Simba for a walk.
Actually, I think hunting season just started so maybe it's not safe to go for a walk with a deer-colored dog. Our land is posted with no hunting signs but that doesn't mean there are no hunters around who could be shooting in any dirction. Oh well, I guess to the studio instead but how to explain to Simba that there will be no walk until Sunday when hunting is not allowed????

Holiday

I am surprised at how many people like snow or would like to have some! I shouldn't be because I am one of them. Ours has all melted though, so we get a bit more time without heavy winter clothes.
We are leaving for California again for a couple of weeks and I won't be near the computer so I won't be updating my blog. It's probably a good thing to have a computer break once in awhile. I'll see you all when we get back.

Quilting Weather

When I looked out the window this morning, this is what I saw. That is real quilting weather! There is not enough snow yet to look beautiful and pristine. There is no telling if it is here to stay but it certainly could be.


Simba was not keen to sit in all that wet, cold stuff so he got his treat without having to sit and be good. Well, he's usually good anyway so it was not a problem.

Green Fabrics

Today I have been making liners for crates to transport paintings. I used second hand bumper pads from cribs (cots for my Australian friends) and old blankets or bedspreads from the thrift shop. If you would like to see some of the paintings that will go into the crates you can go to Star Center Art


On a more quilty note, here are the green fabrics I have collected or dyed. On our recent trip to California I decided that as souveniers I would collect green fat quarters. We didn't stop at all that many quilt stores but I did get some. The left row is fabrics that I have dyed that I thought might fit. There are also a couple of thrift shop pieces and a bit of green left over from Summer's quilt.

New Dyes

Today I tried out some dyes that I have had for awhile but never used. The brown one is called Bronze and I really like the organic looking pattern that happened. The other is called Antique Gold but it looks like yellow to me. I guess that is what gold is, really. I might try to make the bronze a bit more intense the next time but I like it a lot as a neutral maybe with my green collection.
I have only one side to go on the Wonky Log Cabin and then the binding is on. I'll call it finished even though I haven't even made the label yet, let alone sewn it on.

Wonky Quilting

I have finished quilting the Wonky Log Cabin. It's a good thing the blocks are wonky because the quilting is certainly wonky. I marked the star on the front but the pattern was so busy that I couldn't see my marks properly. After the first round I quilted it from the back. In the squares between the points of the stars I used a pattern by Keryn Emmerson from her book Beautiful Quilts as you Go. The quilting is moderately successful but a bit lumpy in the middle. Luckily the quilting is mostly hidden by the wild colors on the front of the quilt. I have cut the binding but still have to sew the pieces together, iron it and sew it on. The end is in sight!

Clothespin Bag

Nines at Prairie Quilts asked to see my clothespin bag. Here is a picture of it with the approximate measurements. It is really like a double layered apron. My mother always had one so I made my first one soon after I got married. I used it for years and when it wore out I made this one. This one has velcro on the ties but I'm not sure I like that as well as regular ties. I have no idea where the pattern originally came from. I have never seen another one like it but I would be lost without it.
We had our first bit of snow last night but it is nearly all melted now. I don't think winter is here to stay quite yet.

Thanksgiving

I forgot to take a picture of the table loaded for Thanksgiving again. My excuse is that there were 7 ravenous teenagers (Well,6, because Micha is only 9, but she was ravenous too) filling the kitchen. I am just lucky I didn't lose a finger or two while getting the food on the table. They were barely able to wait until all the food was laid out. We eat buffet style,, so no fancy table settings.

Micha lost two teeth in the evening. That must be a record, in our family anyway. I think they had been loose for awhile so it was nice to get them out.




Finally, here is a picture of my laundry area. Like Darcie, I don't have a "room". This is in the back entry. I didn't get around to cleaning much. The bottles of water are there because we get our water from a well and don't trust it for drinking. I hate the wall color. We have a darkish antique brown in the kitchen. My daughter and I thought we'd be clever and mix in some white to lighten it a bit for the entry and save ourselves a trip to town for more paint. It turned out sort of pink but we went ahead with it anyway. I will repaint it some time. We also have an upright freezer in there and a lot of junk on the shelves. The stuff in the dryer is waiting to go out to the studio. I want to re-cover the pillow and I have a bag with thread there too. If I put things there I remember to take them out because that is the door we use going to the studio. The thing hanging by the door is a clothes pin bag. It looks like an apron but it has pockets to keep cloths pins. I have a clothes line out in back on the edge of the deck. I love the smell of sheets dried outside so I use the clothes line as long as I can until it gets so cold that they freeze while you are trying to hang them up. Then there is a risk of breaking the corners off and wrecking them. They do smell great though.

Another New Pincushion

I admired a pincushion on Katja's blog and she kindly sent me the pattern. I made the dark one and then, unable to stop at one, I made the other one. The first one is done in metric and for the second one I switched to inches so I could use my quilting rulers and squares. Lucky Canadians, we have both types of measuremnts on most of our rulers and tape measures (but usually not on quilting tools for some reason. I guess there would be just too many numbers and it would get confusing.) so it was easy to switch. I did a better job on the second one. I love this pincushion for my hand quilting because it has room for scissors, thimble, thread, etc. Thanks, Katja, for sending me the pattern.

Red and White Blocks

Here are three red and white blocks that I am sending to Clare in France for her quilt for Leukemia. Nothing very fancy but hopefully she will be able to incorporate them somehow.
Hopefully, they will be on their way today because I have to go to town to shop for Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey a couple of weeks ago so on Sunday we will have a ham and I am working on a Jamaican theme to go with it. Maybe I will remember to take a picture this time.

Yin Yang Bag

I took a break from nine patches today and made this bag. It is from a pattern by Jamie Kalvestran. I just used whatever pieces I had around and it turns out to look a bit Christmassy so I guess I am getting ahead of the season.
I am a bit stalled on the nine patch quilt until I get some light fabric for the sashing. I tried marking the wonky log cabin. I think I will outline the star and then quilt it from the back with one star inside the other getting smaller. Then I might meander the dark areas outside the star. I need to get some thread to match the backing though, and decide what to do on the border, so stalled on that one too.
Maybe it's just too nice outside to be in the studio quilting. I guess it's time to make the dog happy and go for a walk.